


The Photograph

by AndreUlliel



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Epistolary, M/M, Memorabilia, Photographs, Stucky - Freeform, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 07:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15881721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreUlliel/pseuds/AndreUlliel
Summary: There were a number of memorabilia that did not make it to the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian. This particular photograph was found among the belongings of Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter, later turned over by her niece Sharon upon Peggy's death. It remained in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury until his apparent disappearance. The photo was undisclosed until Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow, leaked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dossier of information to the general public. The current whereabouts of the original photograph is unknown.





	The Photograph

                                           _Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes (L); Captain Steven Grant Rogers (R)._

 

_And behind the photo, in a neat script clearly written by an artist's hand, were the words:_

 

> I didn’t realize it then, you know? I’ve always wanted to enlist because I thought it was the right thing to do, the obvious thing to do. I thought it was because I hated the Nazis. I never thought it was more about you being drafted than anything else.
> 
> It was never about colliding head on with what was in front of us. It was never about the German soldiers we gunned down. They weren’t the enemy. They just happened to be on the other side of our fence. But it was always about loving the one behind me, wanting to protect the one behind me. And I knew you were always there, you always had my six.
> 
> When we were marching through Paris, down in the trenches, there were more than a few times I asked myself if it was all worth it. The war and death – were they worth it? What was I really fighting for? Freedom? Peace? Love? Freedom for many of the prisoners of war, for those who had been unjustly captives, maybe. Peace for the land that had been ravaged by bombs and bullets, yes. But love? No chance to be had at love, was there? Was love worth fighting for? I asked myself that so many times, you had no idea. But then I looked at you, I saw you next to me behind enemy lines, and I was just ready for war.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of what would be a collection of wartime memorabilia (photographs, post cards, letters, etc.) belonging or relating to Steven Grant Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America.
> 
> [Suggestions for future contents of the collection as well as photo submissions are welcome!]


End file.
